Fish had a Wish by Michael Garland
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Was Garland trying to make the new 'Rainbow Fish'? His digiwood illustrations are based on a new technology, like the hologram stickers were for Marcus Pfister in the 1990s. The digiwood illustration is more interesting to look at than the holograms in Rainbow Fish. The pictures were better inside the book than on the cover, which is unfortunate. Some of the rich double spreads are done with unusual palettes (the first three were most interesting).
The story is just as preachy as Rainbow Fish, with an unoriginal "just the way you are" message. I agree with this message, and am a great fan of Fred Rogers, but not a fan of trying to deliver a message through art. Let's talk more about Mr. Rogers. I always enjoyed him speaking directly to me through the tv, but I always hated how the puppets in the Land of Make Believe were trying to teach me whatever lesson he had for the day.
When teaching school, I always found it worked better to teach morals or ethics more directly through open talk and discussion than to try to sugar-coat an uncomfortable message in a story or song.
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